Half of Arnave is over 54.2, older than 93% of compared French towns
Flats: 3.3% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. By contrast, households headed by a retired person are more common here than in 88% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 208 residents and 100 households in Arnave. The share of households without a car stands at 6.5%.
Throughout this page, the Ariège median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Arnave
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 48 second homes and occasional dwellings in Arnave, 31% of its 160 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 98% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Arnave’s residents are under 54.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 25% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Arnave: 31% of homes are second homes, above 95% of compared French towns
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
With empty homes at 5.3%, Arnave is behind 71% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Slower than most: −2% since 2012, behind 79% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
The change was −3% from 2012 to 2017 and ±0% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Ariège town +2%.
8.3% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arnave 54.2. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 68% of compared French towns: 32%
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Ariège median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.1 people. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%. Arnave has more single-parent households than 58% of compared French towns, at 11%. By its share of couples with children (26%), Arnave is above 56% of compared French towns.
At the median, €24,730 a year to live on
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
Living standards centre on €24,730 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
Arnave ranks below 83% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 5.3%
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
The figure for households headed by a manual worker is 21% in Arnave and 14% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Arnave ranks below 86% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 1.5%
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
The median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 53% of compared French towns. On average, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. About one in 16: that is how common immigrants are in Arnave (6.2%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Arnave sits below 66% of compared French towns for single residents (23%)
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
Married residents: 45% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
25% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 67% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
The share of adults with no qualification is 17%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 208 to 2,582 people: this is the 7th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Arnave
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnave | 54.2 | 25% | 31% | 6.2% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 2.1 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Foix 9,934 · 7.7 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 7.6% | 15% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 11.7 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Varilhes 3,487 · 13.4 mi | 46.7 | 26% | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 16 mi | 50 | 30% | 1.8% | 7.6% |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 17.2 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 1.3% | 6.3% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Arnave
What is the population of Arnave?
208 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (213).
How old are Arnave’s residents?
The median age is 54.2, older than 93% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arnave?
48, with occasional dwellings: 31% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arnave?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.2% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arnave?
€24,730 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated October 30, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.